It is frequently necessary to mount an electrical device, such as a coil or a transformer, adjacent to or on a circuit board and to connect the leads extending from the electrical device to conductors on the circuit board. This is sometimes done by providing pin contacts extending from the electrical device and tubular receptacles in the circuit board which are soldered to the circuit board conductors. The soldering operation is time consuming and frequently must be carried out as a separate step in the manufacturing process thus greatly contributing to the finished cost of the article being produced. The present invention is directed to the achievement of an improved receptacle which does not require soldering to the circuit board and which can be assembled to the circuit board by simply inserting the socket into a circuit board hole.
The invention is further directed to an improved combination of a circuit board having an electrical device such as a coil mounted thereon which is connected to conductors on the circuit board and having an electrical component such as a resistor connected across the leads extending from the electrical device to the circuit board.
A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a pin receptacle which is intended to be mounted in a circuit board hole in a circuit board having first and second surfaces and having at least one conductor on the first surface. The pin receptacle is a hollow stamped end formed tubular member or cylinder having a first end and a second end, the pin receptacle being intended for mounting in the circuit board hole with the first end proximate to, and spaced from, the first surface and with the second end proximate to and spaced from the second surface. The pin receptacle has a pin contacting portion and a conductor contacting portion intermediate its end for contacting an inserted pin and for contacting the circuit board receptacle. The pin receptacle is characterized in that a spring contact lance or contacting arm is struck from the cylinder between the first and second ends thereof, the spring contact lance having a fixed end which is integral with the pin receptacle at a location proximate to the second end thereof. The lance has a free end and extends in the general direction of the axis of the cylinder towards the first end thereof. The lance extends from the fixed end into the interior of the cylinder and extends from the interior of the cylinder radially to the exterior thereof to its free end. The pin contacting portion is on the contact lance intermediate to its ends and is located in the interior of the cylinder and the conductor contacting portion is adjacent to the free end of the contact lance. At least two locking members are formed on the pin receptacle and extend radially outwardly from the surface thereof. The locking members are spaced apart circumferentially on the surface of the cylinder whereby upon placement of the pin receptacle in a circuit board hole with the locking members adjacent to one surface of the circuit board and with the contact portion of the locking lance against the circuit board conductor, and upon insertion of a contact pin into the pin receptacle, the contact pin will be electrically connected to the circuit board conductor.
In accordance with further embodiments of the invention, the locking members are locking lances which are struck from the surface of the cylinder and which extend from their fixed ends towards the first end of the cylinder and extend obliquely away from the surface of the cylinder. One or more anti-overstress lances may also be provided in the pin receptacle, each of the first stress lances having a fixed end which is proximate to the first end of the pin receptacle and which extends towards the second end and obliquely away from the surface of the cylinder. When the receptacle mounted in a circuit board, the anti-overstress lances bear against the other surface of the board and prevent damage to the contact lance in the event that an axial force is applied on the first end of the cylinder.
In accordance with a further embodiment, connecting devices may be assembled to the contact pins extending from the electrical device. The connecting devices have receptacle portions which receive the leads of a circuit component or they may receive edge portions of a small circuit board or which one or more circuit components are mounted. By means of these connectors mounted on the contact pins, circuit components can be connected across the contact pins at a location adjacent to the circuit board on which the electrical device is mounted.